The present invention relates to preparation of cytological specimens and, more specifically, to an automated method and apparatus for preparing a plurality of cytological specimens from a common number of patient samples and maintaining one-to-one correlation between the patient samples and the specimens.
Cytology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the formation, structure, and function of cells. As applied in a laboratory setting, cytologists, cytotechnologists, and other medical professionals make medical diagnoses of a patient""s condition based on visual examination of a specimen of the patient""s cells. A typical cytological technique is a xe2x80x9cpap smearxe2x80x9d test, in which cells are scraped from a woman""s cervix and analyzed in order to detect the presence of abnormal cells, a precursor to the onset of cervical cancer. Cytological techniques are also used to detect abnormal cells and disease in other parts of the human body.
Cytological techniques are widely employed because collection of cell samples for analysis is generally less invasive than traditional surgical pathological procedures such as biopsies, whereby a tissue specimen is excised from the patient using specialized biopsy needles having spring loaded translatable stylets, fixed cannulae, and the like. Cell samples may be obtained from the patient by a variety of techniques including, for example, by scraping or swabbing an area, or by using a needle to aspirate body fluids from the chest cavity, bladder, spinal canal, or other appropriate area. The cell samples are placed in solution and subsequently collected and transferred to a glass slide for viewing under magnification. Fixative and staining solutions may be applied to the cells on the glass slide for preserving the specimen for archival purposes and for facilitating examination.
It is generally desirable that the cells on the slide have a proper spatial distribution, so that individual cells can be examined. A single layer of cells is typically preferred. Accordingly, preparing a specimen from a fluid sample containing many cells typically requires that the cells first be separated from each other by mechanical dispersion, fluidic shear, or other techniques so that a thin, monolayer of cells can be collected and deposited on the slide. In this manner, the cytotechnologist can more readily discern abnormal cells. The cells are also able to be counted to ensure that an adequate number of cells have been evaluated.
Certain methods and apparatus for generating a thin monolayer of cells on a slide advantageous for visual examination are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,627 issued to Lapidus et al. and entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Preparing Cells for Examination;xe2x80x9dU.S. Pat. No. 5,240,606 issued to Lapidus et al. and entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus for Preparing Cells for Examination;xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,918 issued to Lapidus et al. and entitled xe2x80x9cClinical Cartridge Apparatus;xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,978 issued to Polk, Jr. et al. and entitled xe2x80x9cSpecimen Processor Method and Apparatus,xe2x80x9d all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
According to one method disclosed in these patents, a patient""s cells in a preservative fluid in a sample container are dispersed using a spinning sample collector disposed therein. A controlled vacuum is applied to the sample collector to draw the fluid through a screen filter thereof until a desired quantity and spatial distribution of cells is collected against the filter. Thereafter, the sample collector is removed from the sample container and the filter portion impressed against a glass slide to transfer the collected cells to the slide in substantially the same spatial distribution as collected.
While apparatus manufactured according to the teachings of one or more of these patents have been commercially successful, such as the ThinPrep(copyright) 2000 System manufactured and sold by Cytyc Corporation located in Boxborough, Mass. such apparatus requires substantially constant attendance by a trained operator. For example, for each specimen to be prepared, the operator must load the system with an open sample vial containing the patient""s cells in preservative fluid, a sample collector with filter, a glass slide, and an open fixative bath vial containing a fixative solution. The system then cycles automatically, the cells being dispersed by the sample collector, collected against the filter, and transferred to the slide. The slide is then automatically deposited in the fixative bath vial where it must be retrieved by the operator for manual loading in a staining rack for further processing. Thereafter, the sample vial and sample collector must be removed from the system, to avoid inter-sample contamination, before replacements and a new slide are installed to produce another specimen from a different patient""s sample.
Once a specimen is prepared, fixed, and stained, the specimen may be manually visually inspected by a cytotechnologist, typically under magnification, and with or without various sources of illumination. Alternatively or additionally, automated machine vision systems have been adapted to aid cytological inspection. For example, an automated vision system may perform a preliminary assessment of the entire slide on which the specimen is disposed to alert the cytotechnologist to potentially the most relevant areas of the slide for close inspection, or may be used to rescreen specimens already analyzed by the cytotechnologist.
While automated specimen preparation systems such as those described hereinabove perform as designed, it is desirable to further reduce manual intervention required of a system operator so as to increase system throughput and operating efficiency. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide the capability wherein a plurality of sample vials, sample collectors with filters, and inspection media such as, for example, glass slides may be loaded in the system. The system then cycles automatically until all of the sample vials are processed and respective specimen slides produced. As a result, after initial loading, the system can operate unattended.
In one embodiment of the invention, a system includes a sample vial tray for loading of a plurality of closed, capped sample vials. The vials include particles of interest, such as cells, tissue samples, assay product, or other material, typically dispersed in a fluid medium. A sample vial transfer assembly serially retrieves each sample vial, unscrewing a cap thereof, and positioning the now open vial in a position for cooperation with a sample collector and filter, which may be drawn automatically from another tray having a plurality of sample collectors. A sample collector or other mechanism prepares the sample for collection such as, for example, by agitating the sample in a manner so as to create a generally uniform dispersion of particles of interest throughout the sample. Once the particles cells are dispersed, collected against the filter, and transferred to a slide drawn automatically from a slide dispenser having a plurality of clean slides stored therein, the slide is then automatically deposited in a fixative bath vial for a period sufficient to fix the specimen on the slide. Alternatively, the fixative solution may be applied directly to the specimen on the slide by spraying with an air brush or similar technique. In either case, the slide may then be transferred to one of a number of multi-position staining racks previously loaded in the system, so that the fixative solution may dry. Once a first patient""s specimen is prepared, the open sample vial is recapped and replaced in the sample vial tray. The filter of the sample collector may be breached to prevent reuse and resultant inter-sample contamination. The next sample vial can then be retrieved and the specimen preparation method repeated until all of the sample vials are processed. Accordingly, once the system operator loads the sample vial tray, sample collector tray, slide dispenser, and staining racks, and initiates the automatic sequence, the system can operate unattended.
In order to maintain the integrity of the specimens so produced, it is desirable to maintain one-to-one correlation between the contents of the sample vials and the respective specimens produced therefrom. When a cell sample is collected from a patient and deposited in the preservative fluid in the sample vial, creating cellular particles in a liquid suspension, the vial may be marked with unique identifying indicia corresponding to the type of sample, patient, date obtained, etc. In one embodiment, the identifying indicia may be a bar code label. When the sample vial is loaded into the system and retrieved from the sample vial tray by the sample vial transfer assembly, the indicia corresponding to the sample is identified. In the case of a bar code, a laser bar code scanner can be used.
Next, an analytical element, such as a microscope slide, is marked with indicia corresponding to the sample indicia. In one embodiment, the analytical element is marked with ink transferred thereto by a printer. The ink may be transferred to multiple overlapping locations, spatially offset from each other on the analytical element, to improve the readability of the element indicia.
The element indicia are then read automatically by the system. In the case where the element indicia are man-readable alphanumeric characters, an optical character recognition system can be employed in the reading step. Once the system verifies that the element indicia corresponds to the sample indicia, the cells in the sample vial are dispersed, collected, and transferred to the analytical element to produce the specimen. In one embodiment, the system collects a spatial distribution of the cellular particles from the liquid suspension and disposes the collected particles on a stratum of the analytical element or slide. The spatial distribution may be substantially a monolayer of cells collected on a filter or porous membrane of a sample collector. The filter or membrane of the sample collector may be breached mechanically, pneumatically, hydraulically, or otherwise in order to prevent reuse of the sample collector and resultant inter-sample contamination.
An apparatus according to the invention for processing a specimen from a fluid sample may include a processor, an identifier in communication with the processor for identifying indicia corresponding to the sample, a marker in communication with the processor for marking an analytical element with indicia corresponding to the sample indicia, and a reader in communication with the processor for reading the element indicia. Once the processor verifies that the element indicia corresponds to the sample indicia, a specimen transferrer in communication with the processor transfers a specimen from the sample to the analytical element.